Glee does little to excite with its second episode of season 3 song selection. Thank God for Idina Menzel.
What I Loved.
- Idina Menzel is back as Shelby, Rachel’s biological mom and the adoptive mother of Quinn and Puck’s daughter, Beth. Shelby got a part-time job at WMHS solely to create a second Glee club, funded by New Directions reject Sugar’s daddy. Let’s get one thing straight: Idina has been my idol since her days on the Original Broadway Cast of Wicked–love me some green-skinned Elphaba–and I loved her in Rent, too, of course. And having her guest star on Glee, another obsession of mine, is something like destiny. Fate or not, I love when Idina returns to bring her insane singing skills to the Glee ensemble.
Shelby and Rachel sing a beautiful duet, even if their relationship is screwy. Photo: fox.com - Brittany infuses Kurt’s class president campaign with pink glitter and rainbows. Lovable, dumb, sexually confused Brittany adores Kurt for his confidence in being who he is: a unicorn. A unicorn is defined, by Brittany, as someone who know they’re magical and isn’t afraid to show it. She decides they need 100,000 copies of the large, pink “gay gay giggity gay” posters, and will pass out swag bags of gay pride flags, high heels and other unicorn-worthy goodies. “We’re gonna call it Kurt Hummel’s bulging, pink fun sack.” Innocent sexual innuendos–love it.
- Sue’s congressional office campaign heats up in hilarity. Sue continues her campaign against the arts in schools by filming a video about Quinn: “A day in the life of a girl from whom the arts stole everything.” The dangerous Sue-Becky combo as Director-sound tech is funny and irrelevant. I’m actually glad to see off-the-wall Sue tactics return to Glee, to add some funny fluff to the otherwise bizarre developing story lines.
What I Didn’t Love.
- Glee is 2 for 2 in episodes highlighting old Broadway show tunes. Kurt, Rachel and Blaine each try out for the school musical, West Side Story, by singing Broadway songs. Been there, done that–last week. Ho-hum, besides Rachel and Shelby’s daughter-mother duet of “Somewhere There’s a Place For Us.”
- Quinn, all too predictably, returns to a normal hair color and sheds her black clothes for a white cotton sundress. Then, also expectedly, she rejoins the New Directions. But hold up–the bitch isn’t all out of her system yet: She tells Puck she’s going for full custody of Beth, whom Shelby adopted and lovingly cares for. Now, why does Quinn think she and Puck, both about to finish their senior year but with little going on between the ears, would be better parents than Shelby? And why is she going out of her way now to get her daughter back, when she had been on the back burner since the adoption anyway? Come on, Glee. Are you already out of storyline ideas?
Brittany put her heart and soul into Kurt's gay-tastic campaign posters. Screenshot: Kelli Fitzpatrick - The bizarre and unrealistic relationships budding around Shelby are a bit too much. First, Shelby and Rachel keep trying to form some sort of relationship through song–do Rachel’s dads even know about this?! Second, Puck stops by Shelby’s house unannounced and meets his daughter, totally unplanned and not what Shelby was hoping for already–kind of like his and Quinn’s having Beth. Puck claims he’ll do anything for Shelby and his daughter, and now Quinn wants her back all for herself.
Top Character Quotes.
- “I think you are the biggest unicorn.” – Brittany to Kurt
- “After a long day of snorting splenda and cutting class, she…smokes corn syrup.” – Sue’s commentary of her video on Quinn
- “Turns out Napoleon? Not just a dessert. He was a real dude!” – Puck
- “I’m a unicorn…or maybe a bi-corn.” -Brittany, of course
- “You know what a unicorn without a horn is? A friggin’ horse.” Kurt’s dad, Burt
Next Week. The truth comes out. The divas face off. Will Blaine try out for the role of Tony, Kurt’s dream role, stealing his boyfriend’s chance of getting the lead? Or will he settle for a lesser role so Kurt can shine?
